Tuesday, February 23, 2016

The Year in Horror RPGs 2014

WHO LEFT THIS RENT VEIL HERE?

Maybe I’m wrong about Horror.

I started these lists with the best of intentions. Trying to
figure out how the genre had evolved, trace patterns, and figure out when
certain approaches had evolved. Horror came first because of Call of Cthulhu,
the first horror game and the first licensed property. At first I had little
trouble figuring out what fell into this box. But over time those lines
blurred. More and more things looked less and less like Horror with a capital
H.

That came back to me as I read another round of system-dismissal
posts and this
piece on horror cinema. (h/t to Eric Duncan). Am I breaking things down too
far in my head? For example, I tend to value “Action Horror” less, especially
Big Guns against the Darkness style games. I’m afraid that tone may come across
in my assessments. To make a parallel to cinema, let’s imagine the "Horror to
Action" continuum of genres. Start with extraterrestrials, The Fourth Kind-->Alien-->Aliens-->Starship Troopers. Or consider zombies, REC-->The Walking Dead-->Dawn of the Dead-->Resident Evil: Apocalypse. I imagine
I could put various rpgs into the same kinds of lists. I’m not going to, I’ll
leave the “that’s not really horror” to your judgement.

It’s more interesting to look at how nebulous horror themes
have become in games. I recent years we’ve seen more subtle genre blending in
games. That’s why I wouldn’t try to sub-divide horror further. Even my
extraction of Cthulhu had some questionable bits, since some games sort-of use
the Mythos (Shadows over Vathak). In
the last couple of decades we’ve seen more kinds of horror adapted to new
frames. Like the political horror of Urban Shadows, the PTSD themes of
Changeling the Lost, or the cosmic horror sub-theme in the OSR-y Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

So that’s why this list is so freaking long.

If you’re a podcaster or blogger and want to talk with me
about these series, drop me a line. I got nominated for an ENnie last year, so
that’s something…maybe. If you’re a designer for games I’ve mentioned on any of
these lists and want to talk about your work and thoughts about the genre in
general, I’d love to have a chance to do that.

I’ve group entries by individual
new core books or oddities, then major publishers, followed by category roundups. I’ve considered
something “Horror” if it explicitly references calls itself
that and/or has been tagged horror by gamers. Some of that’s subjective. I include Kickstarter projects if they actually released in 2014. I
give pdf-only releases their own entry if they’re notable, of significant size,
or come from a major publisher. I consolidated some material into” Category”
items at the end. I’m certain I missed some releases. If you spot them, leave
me a note in the comments.

The first of two alternate history medieval horror games on this
list. This Darkest Age offers a hefty
core book (350+ pages). Set in Europe circa 1350, the bubonic plague has created
various kinds of zombies. The game uses the d20 OGL. It's interesting to see games
carrying on that tradition. Will some of these now upconvert to D&D 5e? Unlike
other historical horror games I've seen, The
Darkest Age downplays the magic. Others still have mages and D&D style
magic. Instead it offers "Rituals," involved practices for classes like
the Mystic, Skald, and Priest (I believe). There's also a focus on the social dimension
of the horror. It reminds of Clockwork & Chivalry. An interesting idea,
leaning towards the crunchy.

There's a title that pretty much spells the premise out. In it
you play the teenage victims of a faceless slasher. It looks to be a short game
intended for one-shots, almost like a party rpg. Dead Teenager includes mechanics for setting the "rating"
the group wants to play out (PG, PG13, R). Characters struggle against their instinct
to do stupid things which get them killed in a movie (split up, take a shower, go
down in the dark basement without a light). It uses cards for resolution and to
move the action. Overall Dead Teenager
looks decent and more coherent than many other "slasher" rpgs. I'd be
curious as to how it stacks up against the now elusive The Final Girl rpg.
If you like having a pool of convention one-shot games, Dead Teenager is probably up your alley. Note: I feel creepy typing that title out repeatedly.

Pinebox, TX is an ongoing modern horror setting across several
systems. The East Texas University series
narrows that focus to a particular campus and related goings-on. At heart is a setting
core book which presents a school-based campaign for Savage Worlds. It includes all the usual new character bits and bobs.
That's complemented by location backgrounds, an adventure generator, and new supernatural
foes. Several additional products expanded the line in 2014: maps, figure flats,
adventures like Class Ring and Horror for the Holidays, a full campaign Degrees of Horror,
smaller pdf-only supplements, and more. jim pinto even added to the setting with
a Protocol Game set there, A Body Was Found.
It's nice to see a company focusing in on a setting like this. A solid horror resource,
perhaps adaptable to other games like Monster of the
Week.

I'm listing this outside of the Miscellaneous: Sourcebooks entry
because Imaginary Empire deserves attention for their unique and creative horror
rpg, Epoch. The Experiment Continues
contains both a sourcebook and set of scenarios. The first 20+ pages talk about
GM tricks, how to manage Epoch's card-driven
structure, and new ways to mix up games. That's followed by four scenarios and their
associated cards. If you want a generic horror game, capable of emulating genres
with a tactile resolution mechanic, check out Epoch. Imaginary Empire released one other product for the line in 2014,
White Wedding
a horror scenario with a holiday theme. Epoch
has a large library of one-shot horror adventures. If you're looking for something
to adapt to Dread or Dead of Night, check them out. Each has a set
of unique PCs, a clean structure, and ideas on how to change things up.

A "rend the veil, reveal the truth" modern horror rpg.
This one uses Fate Core. Fate sometimes
gets a bad rap regarding horror, but the more I've seen it in action, the more I
think it works. Modernity seems more action-adventure
against the occult than classic horror. Maybe cut-rate Delta Green with super agents?
The substantial core book reproduces most of the Fate Core rules, which may or may
not be a way of filling out page count. Since I always call it out, Modernity falls back on my least favorite
art, CG images and character models. There's a weird thing where they label everything
as "Fate Edition" but there's no other edition. I've seen mixed review;
it feels like an rpg which has dropped through the cracks. Despite the lack of attention,
the company has supported the line with several sourcebooks, so that's a plus.

A great revised edition of an already great game. Monster of the Week is a supernatural-hunter
rpg aimed at episodic play. It uses a Powered by the Apocalypse engine, nicely tuned
to the genre.. Players pick from many cool playbooks (Divine, Flake, Spooky, etc).
They customize these and then build quick relationships with the rest of the team.
The mystery structure allows the GM to quickly build a story and throw players into
the mix. The move and advance system creates an easy structure combined with cool
player choices. It has just the right heft for what it wants to do.

I love a lot about this game, not least the amazing artwork.
The playbooks maintain a solid theme while allowing for personalization. There's
also a body of fan-made archetypes online. While MotW aims for episodes, it can
easily be serialized with a connecting larger story. It's the GM advice and guidelines
for building sessions that stands out for me. Powered by the Apocalypse games have
GM Moves, responses and reactions they can take in play. MotW makes them
concrete and easy to grok. The game asks GMs to keep play focus on the “doing.”
Action should push the game towards figuring out the "mystery" quickly.
From there it needs to push to getting to the conflict and figuring out how to fight
the big bad. That emphasis fits the genre and keeps the energy up. I dig it and
think it’s worth reading for any horror GM doing these kinds of games (Buffy, ConX, Hunter the Reckoning, etc).

In 2013 Hunters Books released Outbreak: Deep Space as a supplement for their zombie game, Outbreak. The following year they reworked that as a stand-alone core
book, Outbreak: Deep Space Core Rulebook. While it keeps Outbreak’s big gimmick, playing
as yourself, OB: DS offers character templates as well. The sci-fi game focuses
on three types of horror: "Infestation, Invasion, and Trans Dimensional."
This moves the game away from zombie centered to broader, Aliens or Event
Horizon stories. Overall the game looks good and has the kind of crunch some
folks love in survival horror. There's a really excellent and through review of it on Gnome Stew you can read here. The company also released
several Free Content Friday pdfs for the original game as well as this.

OK, perhaps I spoke too soon when I said d20 systems were unusual.
Qalidar is a multiversal game, with "a crumbling cosmos full of nightmares
and conspiracies." I've read through the pitch on the game's webpage, and I'm
not entirely sure I get it- it has a lot of terminology and high-level concepts.
While I’ve kept it on the list, I suspect it's on the fringes horror games. As I
get it, tears in reality have allowed bad stuff in. As "storm walkers,"
the PCs can move between worlds to fix these issues. I'm doing a disservice to the
material here- I recommend checking out the publisher page if you like games which move across dimensions. Originally
released in '08 as a True20 setting, you can find a free quick start pack for it
on RPGNow.

Spooks! feels like
Wraith: the Oblivion with a significantly
lighter tone. Players become one of several kinds of recently deceased. They enter
into and travel through the Great Beyond on a mission of self-enlightenment. Of
course the Beyond has its own dangers. That much I got from the publisher blurb.
But when I went through the book, I got much less sense of that. RPGNow has an enormous
pdf preview of the game (119 pages). But there's no explanation of the setting,
the premise, or what you're actually going to be doing in all of that. You get rules,
character creation, skills, spell cards and much more. You can tease some of the
framework from that, but it seriously buries the lede. Again, the here’s publisher's
blurb: "Explore the dreams of the living and dead, survive the inferno of the
Hellfire Lands, uncover hidden treasure troves in the Salts, rise the height of
spook society, meet historical figures from Earth's past and learn the secrets that
unlock the way to the hidden afterlives of old. How will you spend eternity?"
That all sounds cool, but if that's what's happening, why does the core book take
so long to spell that out?

An Italian Medieval/Renaissance rpg, released in English in 2015.
I'm impressed at how Savage Worlds has
continued to thrive in the Action Horror genre. While it isn't my system of choice,
the enthusiasm shown for the system has generated a ton of content: fan and professional.
In Ultima Forsan, the Black Death again
brought with it supernatural horrors. Humanity has battled against those forces
for two centuries. Science and natural philosophy changed course to support this
struggle. Now after centuries of work, the kingdoms and nations of Europe have begun
to battle back in earnest, acting to retake the reins of civilization and history.

I like the concept- it's a little post-apocalyptic. It offers
a bleak setting, but one with hope of victory. Of course the the complex politics
of the era shapes the actual progress of these. The game uses some of the grittier
Savage World options, so it feels less like fantasy horror. Like The Darkest Age above, Ultima Forsan downplays magic. Instead there's
a focus on clockwork and Di Vinci-esque machinery to augment warriors. The book
itself looks great- with a solid combination of original art and period etchings.
Definitely worth looking at if you like historical horror.

I mentioned this earlier on my Steampunk lists. To repeat: I
don't know if I can do justice to this setting’s crazy complexity. I first assumed
this was the Malifaux RPG, since that
comes from Wyrd Miniatures. But no, this is a completely different thing. It can
best be described as a kitchen-sink fantasy setting: pseudo-Lovecraftian elements,
steam machines, battle armor, British mythos, multiple new races, strange names
for everything. Reading the rules requires slogging through a massive history. It
feels like an extended campaign world run by a GM in love with their backstory.
Wyrd also uses its own unique mechanics,
the Elderune Multidice System. There’s a free pdf version of the setting and systembook. That’s worth reading (and looking at the character sheet) if you’re interested
in the genre or elaborate setting designs.

13. Horror: Onyx Path

This publisher remains the beast at the top of the heap in horror.
Even if you consider Cthulhu products, the number and scale of their projects buries
the others. Onyx Path has managed to tap into a vein of crowdfunding- balancing
new and nostalgia projects. We'll see how that continues with 2015's shift in ownership
of the WoD IP.

Classic World of Darkness: OP built on gamers’ hunger
for the old setting and lovingly produced gaming books. The Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition - Introductory Quickstart Rulesoffered the biggest tease of the year.
Released as part of Free RPG Day 2014, it hinted at their plans for modernizing
the setting. Another one off product, Darkening Sky,
looks like an old-school WW "event" book with scenarios for all the different
Dark Ages rpg branches. Established lines received deeper
support throughout the year. Vampire20
updated one of its most popular supplements with Anarchs Unbound. People love Anarchs and now they have access to the internet. Rites of the Blood
expanded the rules for rituals, not just those of the Tremere. On the Werewolf20 front, OP surprisingly released
the Wyld West Expansion Pack. I hadn't thought that setting had enough fans to warrant
this, even in a slimmed down form. More expected was Book of the Wyrm the blow-out tome of the Garou's adversaries. One I forgot on the first draft was the White Howlers Tribebook, hitting a group not covered before. Finally Umbra: the Velvet Shadow is another biggie, covering the realms of this
supernatural veil.

I pulled Pelgrane out on the Cthulhu Horror list for individual
treatment. However in 2014 they offered few non-Lovecraftian products. The Seventh Circle
is a stand-alone adventure for Fear Itself. I'm glad to see that, as this
Gumshoe game gets less love than its siblings. The scenario revolves around a paranormal
investigation TV show and a remote locale. What could be wrong with that? Surprisingly
the other big horror game from Pelgrane, The
Esoterrorists, saw no new releases this year. Some parts of the "Ken Writes about Stuff" series made up for that, like 1-12: Lilith and 2-09: Vendetta Run.

15. Miscellaneous: Smaller Publisher RPGs

These are new complete games from smaller, pdf-only, or PoD publishers.

Crawlspace: Deluxe
revises a small 2010 game. Here's the publisher blurb, which I'll leave you to untangle,
" Bridging the gap between the basement and the main floor, the crawlspace
is the space where light never intrudes and where lost things like to remain hidden.
And now you can play a starling or starlet, trapped in that realm between the self-aware
audience and the cast on the silver screen. You are in The Crawlspace. Will you
ever see "everyday" ever again?"

Eldritch Victory
looks like a "rent veil" setting with outsider horrors trying to rip their
way into the world. It comes from the Hot
Chicks publisher and appears to be a campaign frame for their generic system.
It has one of the most awful covers I've seen, and not in a good way.

Monster Hunters
comes from the prolific Avalon Games. It offers gothic horror (ala Ravenloft) in Edwardian Europe. Like Shadows over Vathak, it uses Pathfinder as its base for horror gaming.
Dark Europe expands the setting and Samhain
provides a short monster & plot hook pack.

Steam & Fog is an
Italian gothic-steampunk game set in alternate 19th Century Europe. It looks like
a fog-covered, Poe-inspired world.

The Chamber
seems to be a four-player "emotional manipulation game." It's a competitive
story rpg using cards.

I've mentioned a couple of zombie games above. Here I cover Z-Horror
supplements, small games, and modules.

CHOMP! A Survival Horror Roleplaying Game is a pdf-only small press release. The game's
pitch focuses on quick pick up and play. But it suggests it can be used for longer
campaigns. It looks a little basic (in rules and presentation) but if you're looking
for something to hit the table quickly, it might be worth checking out.

Diaries of the Rum Coast and Axis of Blood & Iron offer two new regional sourcebooks for the Dystopia
Rising Tabletop rpg. The former the swampy southern coast of the US. The latter
presents an iron citadel city surrounding the Great Lakes. Both sourcebooks detail
their respective locations, those in control, and new kinds of threats. If you're
running a fully post-apocalyptic zombie game, these look like decent resources.

Profondo Giallo:
A supplement for Fragmentos Director's Cut, an Italian generic horror rpg I missed on last year’s list. This one
looks at Giallo cinema of the 1970's and how to emulate that. Those movies freak
me out so I'll take a pass!

Shadows Over Newport:
A setting expansion for the Steamcraft
rpg. This dials up the horror and conspiracy elements.